Learning to Fly
by Aquatic Decendants
Summary: After an infiltration mission gone wrong, Keith is stranded on a planet with no memory of the Galra war. Little did he know, an alien beast was on his trail. Gen.
1. Infiltration Mission

**I'm not a really good writer, but I love red paladin Keith and wanted to write this so enjoy.**

 **Chapter One:The Infiltration Mission**

 **Summary: After meeting a galra prisoner that claims to know Matt Holt, the paladins plan an infiltration mission on the cruiser.**

Keith never saw Pidge so hopeful and he couldn't blame her. When the galra prisoner, Spurk, arrived at the Castle of Lions a movement ago, he noticed Matt's name. After Pidge presented the picture of his last day on Earth, he mentioned that he had shared a cell with him. He didn't know everything, but he mentioned the cruiser had files on the prisoners. They had a chance to find him from there. And if they found Matt, they could find Sam too.

While he rested in a cryo-pod, the Paladins and Alteans discussed the what to do on the bridge. After a while of discussion, they tracked the cruiser Spurk was captive on. They agreed that Shiro and Hunk take Yellow and Black, but keep out of range as an emergency backup. Coran and Allura steered the Castle behind a stray asteroid and held their position. Lance, Keith and Pidge were to get on the cruiser, and find the information they needed.

The cruiser was hovering over a strange planet. It looked quite like Earth, but with a glimmering pink atmosphere.

Lance, Keith and Pidge proceeded taking Blue, Red, and Green to sneak aboard the ship. Before they launched, Pidge added temporary cloaking to Red and Blue. The permanent would've taken way longer. The three of them snuck aboard ship and send a clarification to the others as soon as they were on board.

They didn't send to much communication after that. They didn't want any galra picking up their communications. Keith, Lance, and Pidge backed up against a wall, bayards at the ready. Pidge opened a screen from her gauntlet, typing through some code. Her eyes skipped over the schematics on the screen, before turning her attention back on them.

Pidge turned to them. "Alright, we have to head left and take the right tunnel at the fork." Lance snorted a laugh. "We head straight on from there until we reach the doors. By then, we could use Keith to open the doors."

"That isn't insulting at all," Keith mumbled.

Pidge ignored the comment, "One problem though. Someone is guarding the fork in the road. I could... try to hack him from here, assuming it's a century."

"And if it's not?" Lance asked.

Pidge shrugged. "We hack it from there."

"That is... brutal," Keith blinked. "Okay, give it your best shot," Pidge nodded and turned back to the screen. As they waited for the green paladin to continue her work, Keith wondered if the mission would be a success. Spurk was a little... untrustworthy, to say the least. But then again, Keith couldn't trust many people trust anyone. Especially in this war. But Lance didn't trust him either.

Lance was waiting next to Keith, pouting as he watched Pidge. "Got anything, Pidgeon?"

"Give me a moment," Pidge hissed, glaring back at Lance. After a couple more button press, the 'crazy Pidge' face danced across the screen. "There!"

She gestured for the two of them to follow her and head down the hall, to the left. As the schematics have predicted, there was a fork in the road with a century hanging between the ways. From the dark screen, Keith could tell Pidge has disabled it.

"Huh," Lance said, a mischievous glimmer to his smile. "For a place with _prisoners_ , you'd think they have more security. It would be useful to add robots that are less likely to be hacked."

"It _was_ hard, Lance," Pidge said. "I only upgraded a bit on Spurk's information about the patrols."

Lance huffed, "I don't know why we're trusting this guy." She glared at Lance, not impressed by his hesitance.

"Because he knows something about my brother," Pidge said. "He mentioned seeing them with him in one of the cells, you remember? I _will_ find them. This is the best place to start. C'mon," She turned around heading right. "We don't have time to stand around."

The three paladins followed Pidge and they got to the assigned doors. Keith stepped forward and scanned his hand on the panel. The doors slid open and the three of them entered the room. If Pidge wasn't on a mission and hiding on a galra cruiser, she would've squealed in excitement. Computers and screens were blaring all over, like a Gunderson paradise.

Pidge ran to the main control screen and hooked her gauntlet to the system.

"Shiro, we're in," Keith said into his com. "Pidge is gathering the information right now."

" _Great_ ," Shiro's voice rang in his ear. " _Make sure you and Lance keep her covered_."

"On it." Keith turned to Lance, who was watching Pidge in silence. "Lance, guard the doors while I stay here with Pidge. In case she needs anything."

Lance nodded in clarification and stomped over to the doors. He held his back up to the wall and glanced over the corner of the opened gap. Keith turned to Pidge. "Is everything going good?"

"Yup," Pidge said. "I just have to find the right -"

" _Guys_!" Lance whisper-called form the door. " _Someone's coming_."

Pidge cursed. " _Shit_! I need more time. Keith, help Lance take out... _whoever_!"

Keith ran over to Lance's side. " _I think we have to hide. We can't take out_ all _those_."

He wasn't wrong. A galra commander was standing before 4 rows of centuries. Giving them orders. " _What are they saying?_ "

" _No idea_ ," Lance said. " _Maybe I could get better sound if I..._ " he tapped his gauntlet a couple of times before clicking a blinking red button on his helmet.

Keith watched as Lance listened in on the conversation. A couple of ticks later, Lance paled. " _They know we're here. They're trapping us in at all angles!_ "

Keith's eyes widened and signaled him to hold the position. He hurried back to Pidge and said. " _Pidge, they know we're here. We gotta find some way out before it's all sealed shut._ "

" _What?_ How?" Pidge asked as she spun around. " _The lions are cloaked and the others are far out of range. There's no way_ -"

"It should be Spurk," Keith said. "But we don't have time to dwell on that. We have to get out. _Now_."

Pidge thought for a moment. "Maybe... I... Fine. Alert Shiro and Hunk that they know."

Keith nodded and spoke into the comms, "Shiro, the commander of the ship knows we're in here. He's locking us in. We need a little backup."

" _Roger that_ ," Shiro said. " _We'll try and distract them from here._ "

"Thanks, Shiro," Keith said. "He's got us covered, we might have enough time to -"

"OW!"

Keith and Pidge spun to the source of the sound. Lance's arm was cut and the commander, along with armed centuries, was standing before them. "Well, Spurk told me he'd get some valuable prisoners. Paladins of Voltron? Oh, I do underestimate that _Dreczais_."

Pidge's bayard sprung to life as she pointed it at the commander. "Leave Lance alone!"

As if on cue, a giant **KABOOM** made the ship shake with impact. They stumbled and it confused the commander long enough for the paladins to take action. Pidge shot her weapon at the lead as Keith dove forward to stab at the first century.

Lance seemed to regain his bearings, cause he shot at the other robot. The century Keith stabbed in the gut went down with a clang. He hurried to Lance and helped him up. "You okay?"

"Fine," Lance shoved him off. "We need to get out of here! Pidge!"

The three of them slipped past the commander and ran out the control room. " _After them_!" They heard as they ran away. They turned a corner and another one, before they were blocked by more centuries. They drew their shields and turned the other way, but more have already cornered them there.

"We're trapped!" Pidge cried in surprise. She shot her bayard at one of them. Lance wasn't so sharpshooting with an injured arm. Whoever got him, cut him deep. Keith dove toward the line of centuries with his sword.

They fought for a while before Keith sliced the last robot in the way. "It's open!"

Pidge and Lance ran for his position, still holding cover with their shields.

"Which way did we come in!?" Lance asked Pidge as they ran down the hall.

"I don't have time to check! I... I can't remember!" Pidge replied as another hard **KABOOM** hit the ship outside. Two more **BOOM** s threw them off their feet. More galra and centuries ran up to them and started firing. Pidge yelled as one of the shots grazed her right leg, before she drew up her shield.

"Pidge!" Keith called. "We got you covered! Check the schematics now!"

She held up her arm and checked as the screen popped up. Keith dove back into battle as Lance took it from long range. Between the crowd, Keith got cut by their sharp, hard armor and grazed by many of the lasers. But Lance wasn't holding up any better. He tried to keep everyone away from Pidge, thus being hit by several of the weapons.

Keith turned his attention back to his opponents, cutting through armor and metal. Cutting their laser guns and trying to cover Lance.

"AHHHHH!"

Keith spun around and felt his heart stop. "PIDGE!"

Pidge was laying behind Lance, blood dripping from her mouth and a fresh wound in her neck. Keith fought through the crowd to her side. As Lance tried to hold off the enemies, Keith dropped next to Pidge. He checked for a pulse and was relieved to find one.

"Lance!" Keith called. Lance glanced back and flinched at the sight of Pidge.

"Wha - What happened to -?" Lance was cut short as a laser ricocheted off the shield.

"Lance! You have to get Pidge back to the Lions!" Keith called over the blazing gunfire, holding Pidge close to his chest to shield her. "Get her back to your lion and call for someone to help get _her_ lion back. Please, get out of here!"

"And leave you?" Lance asked.

"Yes!" Keith replied. "I'll hold them off! Get her back to the Castle! You have to hurry."

Lance hesitated, but as soon as his eyes laid back on Pidge he nodded. Keith covered them as Lance picked her up from the floor. He followed behind them, slicing away the enemies and keeping them out of range.

"I'll come back!" Keith called as Lance and Pidge ran away from the battle. "Just get her safe!"

Lance nodded and left Keith back with the centuries and galra. Keith ripped through their metal with his sword. He tried to block the paths of anyone who tried to go after Lance and Pidge. Blood splattered on his armor as he cut galra and got grazed by the lasers. He has never killed any of the galra face to face, so this was strange. A loud **KABOOM** would help once in a while, throwing his enemies to the ground.

But sometimes, he fell too. Catching _him_ off guard.

When he finally got through the last century, he was bruised, cut and bleeding. He wondered if Lance got Pidge to safety and if she would be okay. He limped his way down the hall. He tried to retrace his steps. How he got from the Lions to the control room.

It took him to late to realize the century charging towards him. It banged into him, cracking his helmet glass. It raised it's weapon and got ready to shoot, but Keith summoned his bayard and sliced through his metal legs. It fell back into a panel and a voice filled Keith's head:

" _Lowering Oxygen Levels_."

Oh god! Keith tried to activate his helmet but it only flickered and dissolved. He got to his feet and hobbled to the control panel. He tried to turn off the sequence, but the century's force seemed to knock it out of commission.

Keith felt the oxygen levels lowering around him already. There was no way he'd get into Red like this. He had only one choice left. He tried to hurry down to the cruiser's hanger. He started coughing and losing breath. When he entered the hanger, five centuries ambushed him. Keith swung his sword through their metal.

" _Oxygen Levels at 10%_."

Keith hurried to the closest fighter ship and climbed into it. As soon as the glass around him sealed, oxygen-filled into his lungs. He gasped and coughed. He took a moment to recover before he grabbed the pedals and lifted the ship off the ground.

He steered it to the hanger door, which instinctively opened up. He shot the ship out of the cruiser, and as soon as he was back into space he saw what was going on. The blue and green lions were gone, but Hunk was trying to keep the galra away from Red. Shiro sped through as many ships as possible, trying to cut into the cruiser with his jaw blade.

"Shiro? Shiro!" Keith yelled into the comms. He heard static ringing in his ears. "Hunk? Lance? Anyone, come in!" Nothing but static. _Quiznack_. There was no way he'd get close to Red like this.

A blue light crowded his vision and he felt a fire burning his skin. He pushed the pedals forward as his body grew heavy with pain. Alarms rang around him as the ship sped at high speed to the nearby planet. As soon as the ship hit the atmosphere, the alarms went wilder. Keith's head pounded as it dropped to the surface.

He opened his eyes slightly to watch a blurry landscape grow closer...

And closer...

Closer...

 **KABOOM**!

 **So, yeah. That's it for the first chapter. Tell me what you think about it and make sure to go check out my other fics if you enjoyed this one. Plus, the song is based off of Learning to Fly by Tom Petty.**


	2. No Recollection

**So here is the third chapter. It took me a while to write and is pretty short but I hope you like it anyway. I do not own Voltron.**

 **Chapter Two:No Recollection**

 **Summary: The journey begins as he wakes up in a broken alien ship and meets a serious threat to his life. Recently, the other paladins are on the lookout for Keith.**

He woke up with a loud ringing in his ears. His head felt heavy and slightly throbbing. He opened his eyes to see a broken dashboard in his vision. He blinked a couple of times. His vision was weird. Slightly blurry and a blue tint to his left eye. Not to mention, it felt like someone was stabbing him in the face. He raised his hand off of one of the pedals to his face only to feel a glass surface. He jerked away in surprise before he raised his other hand and felt a helmet covering his head.

He pulled it off of his head, the stabbing feeling instantly gone. He looked down at the red helmet in his hands. How did he get this?

He looked back up at his surroundings. Rays of sunlight were sneaking through the cracks of the windshield. A spark of electricity in the corners of it. He doesn't know how he ended up in this place. Wasn't he asleep on his couch in the shack? Was this a dream? But that wasn't possible. You couldn't feel pain in your dreams. Right?

He tried to get off of the seat but slipped on something under his foot. He grabbed the dashboard as he fell forward. Something heavy pushed into his chest too hard, making him winded. He tried to regain his breathing before looking behind him to see what he tripped on. It was some sort of… handle? What was that? It was the same color as the helmet and the V on the chest plate he just noticed.

He looked at his arms and legs. There was red and white armor covering his entire body.

He jerked forward as something cold shot in his back. The dashboard was starting to spark. He heaved a heavy sigh and got off the ground. There was a stumble to his step and his head felt heavy. He was still contemplating over how he crash landed this ship here. The sparks around the windshield seemed to set something off cause the glass flickered and dissipated. Keith flinched away as the sun light hit him. His eyes hurt from the bright light, knocking him down again. When he finally got his eyes adjusted to the light, he got sight of a forest. Despite the wind that gushed into the ship, the trees outside weren't moving.

There wasn't any sound outside. Not a bird, not a brush of leaves... nothing.

He pushed himself to his feet, using the chair as support. He regained his balance, even though his legs hurt, and stumbled over to the windshield. The sun was hotter than usual but he needed to get out of here. His skin was searing from the heat inside the ship. He looked back at the weird object from moments before and grasped it firmly in his hand. It might carry some answers on how he got here.

He swung his legs over the dashboard and slid out the ship. He realized the ground was much further down than he expected as soon as he hit the grass. His knees buckled under the pressure and pain coursed through his entire body.

But despite the rough landing, he didn't hear anything but his own breathing and sparks around the ship. He rolled onto his back and looked up at the craft. It was no Garrison ship. It looked... alien. A grey and dark red ship with a strange shaped hole where the windshield used to be. He took in his new surroundings. It was a forest and somehow it was hotter out here than inside the ship.

He got off the ground and limped over to the edge of the hill he had crashed on. Millions of other trees were in front of him. The entire place was quiet and everything was frozen in place.

It was odd. Keith thought he would hear the wind or a bird or... something.

Something he _did_ hear was the loud bang on the metal on the ship. He jumped around and fell on his back. He looked at the source of the noise. Coming face to face with a lion. But it wasn't like one he has ever seen before. Its fur was bright red and eyes were glowing yellow. Stars glittered the entire lion, making it look like a 3D art project. It stared him down, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on him. Keith tried to push away from the creature, but it made the lion jump onto the ground soundlessly.

It approached him with caution. Keith held his breath and tried to look away. This was a messed up dream. He just had to wake up. Everything was silent for a moment, making Keith wonder if it was over.

He glanced in front of him only to see the lion's yellow eyes staring at him warily. It was right in front of him. An inch away. Keith noticed the bright orange irises that were trained on him. The glitter of stars in between it's mane and fur. Its mouth was slightly ajar to reveal long, sharp canines. Surprisingly white for a wild animal.

Keith looked away again and silently begged it to go away.

When he opened his eyes for the second time, the lion was gone. That was a relief. He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and looked back up at the ship. How did that lion just dissapear? Wasn't he in the shack? And where was he?

He couldn't remember anything.

XXX

It was a relief to come out of the cryo pod. Pidge hated those things. She remembered blacking out after she was shot by one of the centuries.

Bastard.

She was caught by Shiro when she fell out of the pod. Her vision was a little fuzzy from the cryo-sleep, but she blinked away the dancing spots and pushed away from Shiro. "How long was I in there?"

She noticed Lance approaching her with a calm smile. It wasn't really a Lance smile. "About a Varga. That century got you bad."

Pidge snorted. "No kidding. Being shot in the hip by a laser gun in the middle of a heated battle was pretty _bad_." She sighed, the playful smirk falling off her face. "I'm so sorry for putting you in that situation. I... I should've known better than to trust Spurk."

Lance shrugged it off and patted her shoulder, "Don't put this on yourself, Pidgeon. You were desperate. It's okay."

"Besides, we got rid of another battle cruiser," Shiro said, crossing his arms over his chest. A very Keith thing to do. She can see where he got it from. Speaking of Keith...

"Where is the so-called 'Mullet' anyway?" Pidge asked. "Not fighting on the training deck again, right?" Shiro and Lance went eerily still. They shared a grim look before looking down at the ground. Pidge eyed them curiously but they refused to look up at her. "Guys... Where's Keith?"

Shiro hesitated before he took Pidge by the arm and sat down with her on one of the nearby benches. She saw Lance leave the room in the corner of her eye. As soon as they sat down, Shiro stared at the floor, like he was practicing his words. After a while of silence, he turned to Pidge. "Pidge... Keith stayed behind while Lance brought you back to the Castle. About ten dobashes later, the cruiser exploded for no reason. Leaving no one behind." Shiro took a deep breath before he continued. "Either he died in the blast or he could've been captured by the galra. We've been looking for him but... we haven't found him yet."

Pidge stared at Shiro before she shook her head and shot up from the bench. "Well let's go find him! We can't just leave him to be captured by the galra! We have to track down whichever cruiser he's in and rescue him. We-"

"Pidge you just got out of the cryo pod," Shiro said, holding her elbow to keep her from leaving. "You need to rest and clear your head. Get dressed."

"We don't have-"

"The others are looking for him," Shiro cut her off, awfully calm. Pidge noticed him shake his head and pull up his everyday leader face. "Please, Pidge. Settle down. We are trying to track him through his armor and don't get me wrong, we need more help. But we also need you at your best. We are gonna find him soon." He smiled at her. It was oddly reassuring.

Pidge sighed and crossed her arms. "Fine... But I feel useless just standing to the side."

"Don't worry," Shiro said, patting her shoulder. "You can help in the search as soon as you ate something and got dressed. Besides, we need our tech expert."

Despite the mood of the situation, Pidge couldn't help but smile up at Shiro. It bothered her how much he behaved like a father rather than a leader outside of missions. "I guess you do."

 **Well, that's about it for this chapter. By the way! Thank you** ** _Myherogal22_** **and** ** _SamS14_** **for your comments! I really didn't know if it was as interesting as I thought it was and those comments really inspired me to keep writing on this fic!**


	3. Red Beast

**Merry Christmas, Paladudes! I decided to post the third chapter for Christmas purposes. I really like writing on this fanfiction so please remember to leave two reviews on this chapter, so that I can continue. I am sorry for any OOC moments, but I am trying my best to grasp their personality. I do not own Voltron.**

Chapter Three:Red Beast

 **Summary: Continuing their search for Keith, the paladins need to remember to fight their real-world problems. But they are not the only ones under this overwhelming stress. The red lion has returned and is looking for something.**

After getting dressed and eating some dinner that Hunk whipped up, Pidge was finally ready to assist the other paladins on the search. She had to admit, she was pretty guilty. She felt as if this was her fault. She had lead Keith and Lance into this trap thus risking their safety.

Lance has been quieter ever since the attack. He went out with Blue using the sonic scan to try and track his signature within the system. But he came back unsuccessful each time. That left the Castle of Lions in no choice but to wormhole away from the remains of the cruiser. Everyone was in their respective spots on the bridge as they went through the wormhole. They arrived at Olkarion within seconds.

They thought that the Olkari could help them in finding Keith because of the advanced technology. Pidge was excited to see Ryner again but also nervous if Olkarion can't find Keith either. She tried to dwell on the positive, as Shiro told her to. He was worried as much as the rest of them but Pidge would find him reminding himself ' _Patience Yields Focus_ '. It was quite inspiring, so Pidge kept it in mind. She was surprisingly calmer now.

The castle landed in the city and Pidge could see all the Olkari surrounding them. It was great to see all these tech geniuses again. It made Pidge more at ease. The pillars sunk into the floor and Allura turned to face the rest of the paladins. "Alright, Shiro, Coran, and I will go down to speak with Ryner. I want the rest of you to stay in the castle and use the main navigation system and your armor to try and get a signal from Keith. Everyone got that?"

After a silent agreement, Allura, Coran, and Shiro left the bridge and took a pod down to the Olkari. They had taken a piece of the galra tech they snatched from the battle field with them. Pidge, Hunk, and Lance stared from the castle's window as the three of them conversed with Ryner till they walked into one of the main buildings. "Is that the navigation building or something?" Hunk asked from behind them.

"No," Pidge huffed, cocking an eyebrow. "That's weird." She saw movement in the corner of her eye and turned to see Lance leaving the bridge. "Where is he going?"

Hunk shrugged, "Probably to the navigation systems. I'm gonna go and join him, you coming along?"

Pidge snorted, "Am I coming? Of course, I am! No one knows how to track the armor except for me and Coran."

"I would've figured it out," Hunk pouted. Pidge knew there was a possibility he would've figured it out, but she just shrugged and followed him out of the room. They got down to the navigation systems and found it empty. They considered the possibility that Lance followed the others before he came in with his armor and laid it on a table nearby.

"Hey Lance," Pidge said, walking over to him. "Got the armor I see? Perfect." She started the system and attacked a wire to the chest plate of the armor. "I hope this works. I mean it should, but it might not."

Lance sighed, "Well, the sooner we find him, the better." He sat down on a nearby chair and rested his chin in his palm.

Hunk and Pidge looked at each other in confusion. What was wrong with him? Sure, Keith was gone and they haven't gotten _any_ lead on him yet, but Lance always shared his positivity. It kept their spirits up. Even though she didn't want to lay her eyes off the screen, she walked over to Lance and crossed her arms over her chest. She heard Hunk following close behind her.

"Okay, what's up, Lance?" Pidge asked when she came to a stop in front of him.

Lance glanced up at her, noticing she stopped her work. "Pidge, what are you doing? We have to find him."

"We will, buddy," Hunk said, stepping into her sight. "But you have been so upset lately. We'll find him, Lance. You don't need to worry."

Lance broke his gaze from them, tracing the gauntlet from his armor. "And if we don't?"

Pidge knew it wasn't exactly an insult to her work, but she couldn't help feeling a bit offended. "Lance. We are going to find Keith. He's the red paladin. He's alive. He's out there. If we can get some signal of him from this armor, we can track the signal and it will send us his location."

"And how long will that be?!" Lance glared at them, rising from his seat. "How will we get _his_ signal from _my_ armor and a metal piece from the _demolished_ galra cruiser?"

"I don't know!" Pidge didn't like Lance's tone. She couldn't help and raise her voice, the pressure of their mission kicking in. "I don't know how! Shiro doesn't know how! Allura and Coran doesn't know how! Hunk doesn't know how! We are hanging by hope, Lance. We _hope_ the Olkari will be able to help us! We _hope_ that we will find him! We are flying lions that form into a giant robot of _hope_! We can never be for certain. We never _know_!" Hunk put a hand on her shoulder trying to calm her down. She shrugged away the gesture and broke eye contact from Lance. "I lost my father and brother on the Kerberos mission. I had no one but my mother. Then I left her and learned about Voltron. I left and had no one again.

"In my time as the green paladin, I found a family in you guys. Keith knew Matt. He knew my brother. And we talked. We got to know each other. He became my brother," Pidge cursed the tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes. She hasn't cried since she lost her brother and father. "I lost another brother. I lost someone who knew me on a personal level. Who knew me more than I really knew myself. And now he's gone." She made eye contact with Lance again and cursed the tears that fell from her eyes. "I don't know what to do anymore. I tried to look for my father and brother, and I don't know where to begin. I'm trying to find Keith and I don't know where to begin." She looked down at her feet, trying to ignore the guilty expressions on the others faces. "I don't know what to do Lance."

The trio stood in silence for a while. It felt like hours but it was only about five minutes. She refused to look back up to them. She refused to watch the guilty expressions on their faces for any longer. The only sounds were the rhythmic _beeps_ of the monitor. Finally, the silence ended as she was lifted off the ground by a tall figure.

"I'm so sorry, Pidge," she heard Lance say in a shaky voice. "I'm so sorry I behaved like that. I didn't know you two... you were so close. I'm so sorry Pidge."

Pidge tried her best to hold the tears back but fell weak as another figure hugged them both from the back. She felt warm in between Hunk and Lance. She almost forgot how it felt to cry in the arms of someone she loved. She felt vulnerable, a feeling she didn't really like. But this was different. She loved her friends. Her family. And having them close was important to her. She tried to stay confident. She tried to stay brave. Show her tough exterior when really, she just wanted to cry away all her problems. But that only worked when she was seven.

Pidge wanted to escape the real world. It's why she barricaded herself in a screen. Why she hid from the world. Why she understood humans only in a robotic sense. Machines were so easy to understand that she almost forgot about human emotions.

Hunk and Lance were making her overheat in the hug, possibly killing her, but she didn't mind it right now.

The only thing that pulled them apart was Lance. He pushed away from her and looked down at her with a sad smile. There were tears coating his cheeks but he tried to look strong. The smile immediately fell and he looked off to the side. "I am so sorry for what I did Pidge. For yelling at you like that. I'm sorry." He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I just felt so guilty for leaving Keith back on that cruiser. He saved us. I just wish I... I wish I could've saved him too."

Pidge wiped away the tears that stained her face. "It's okay, Lance. Don't blame yourself. In the end, we're all human. Humans make mistakes. Humans have emotions they can't contain. I am the last person you'll expect to hear this from, but sometimes I just forget. We're a team. We're in this together." She held out her hand. Lance stared down at the offering and hesitantly lowered his hand from his neck. He smiled at her and held her hand in acceptance.

Pidge swore that she could hear the roar of the green lion in the back of her head. Feel the bond growing stronger. Not a second later, both Pidge and Lance were lifted from the ground by Hunk. "You guys! You make me so happy sometimes!"

Pidge and Lance laughed as he cried, hugging them close. Pidge loved this family. And she wouldn't give them up for the world. She hugged them back, thus creating their second group hug in less than an hour.

" _Patience Yields Focus._ "

XXX

Keith's limbs were sore. His legs ached as he walked through the hot forest. He had gotten away just in time to see the ship explode, so he was happy he got out of there in time. The red lion had disappeared and he was afraid it might come out of the shadows any second and gnaw him to pieces.

Part of Keith still hoped this was a dream. A messed up, really long dream. But the logical part of his brain knew this was real. And if it was real, how did he get into that ship. Crashing into an alien planet. It was all too confusing. It made his head pound.

The cuts in his cheeks were stinging and still slightly bleeding. The handle device was heavy in his hand. It slowed him down. He considered tossing it aside, but it might hold some answers to what he was doing here. The helmet might come in handy too. Speaking of that, he also wanted to know how he got into this armor. It looked royal in an old-fashioned kinda way. Keith was in between liking the armor and hating it. Liking it cause it was cool and hating it cause it confused him.

He was alone in the frozen forest now. The silence buzzed in his head. It drove him insane. The only thing he could hear was his own breathing, making his uncomfortably aware when he wasn't breathing right. His anxiety spiked causing himself to hyperventilate. Making him panic more.

He tried his best to take deep breaths and ignore the pain in his body.

He stumbled through the trees for a couple of minutes, not finding anything. It was like the forest never ended. Frozen trees twisted in and out his view, making his head spin. He needed to get off of this planet. He needed to get out of these woods. But the ship he crashed with was destroyed and the only things he had with him was his helmet and an unknown device he didn't know how to use. He walked for minutes longer when the trees finally started to part. The grass grew longer and became yellower. The sun grew hotter as he walked further. When he finally got to the end of the woods, he looked out to a large field. There was still no sound or movement. The sun was even hotter than it was in the woods. He felt overwhelmed by the heat.

Keith forced himself into the field. If he looked hard enough, maybe he will find a way off of this place. He was used to the heat, he lived in a desert after all, but this was way worse. He felt heat stroke kicking in a couple of steps into the field. The heat made him nauseous and the only movement was the tall grass he pushed through.

It calmed him down a bit to see the movement. But he also felt a little dizzy from the heat. He needed to push forward and try to find a way out of here. That was the only thing keeping him from collapsing. He walked for a couple more minutes when he saw something in the distance. It looked like the ship he crashed, but more damaged. It seemed like it's been there for a long time. His curiosity took over him and he found himself walking toward the damaged ship.

It took him almost forever to get there. The windshield was cracked, so he was able to slip through into the ship. He landed with clang, happy to hear a bit of noise. When he looked at the pilot's chair, he had to take a double take. A man was seated there. He had dark hair, pale skin and eyes shut. The helmet was tossed aside like it broke off with the force of the crash.

Keith took a couple of hesitant steps forward until he stood before the dead pilot. His legs felt weak as he dropped to his knees. He stared at the man for a while before he reached out and touched his jaw. He could feel his cold skin against his fingertips. "S-Shiro?"

It couldn't be him. Shiro couldn't be dead. His hands were limply hanging by his sides, his mouth slightly ajar. Keith felt tears sting at the corners of his eyes, feeling even weaker than before. "No... no, no, no, no, no... Shiro, p-please…" He tried to shake Shiro's arm, to get him awake. But Shiro was just like this planet. He didn't move. "Shiro... Shiro, please, wake up! Shi _ro ~ please... wake up... please, don't be dead. Please, don't be dead._ " His voice cracked and he felt like he couldn't support any of his own weight. The heat was gone now, replaced by the cold. He found Shiro... and he had to find him like this.

Tears finally started to roll down his cheeks. He weakly pulled his knees up to his chest, taking in shaky breaths. " _No. No, no, no, no... Shiro…_ " He closed his eyes looking away from Shiro. The pain was getting thicker and thicker. Shiro, his brother, the only person who accepted him, was... gone. " _Shiro... I'm so sorry, I could've... I could've stopped you from going on that mission... I - I could've helped you... Shiro, I -_ " His voice got thick and wavy. He had to pause in his sentences so he could try and stop the tears from falling. "I love you."

He heard a silent grumble in the back of his head and felt closer to something. He ignored the feeling until he realized he was being watched. He looked up and saw Shiro was gone. The interior of a damaged ship had vanished. Instead, the red lion stood before him. The glitter of stars was still in its coat, staring down at him.

Without thinking, he reached up to the lion. It didn't come closer, just stared at him as if wanting something. Waiting for something. Keith felt too weak to get up from the ground, he noticed he felt light-headed. He lowered his hand away from the lion, raising it to his mouth to let out a weak cough. It felt like the sun was drying him up. He wasn't sure if he could go any longer.

The drowsiness pulled him to the ground. Making him collapse on the warm sand. His vision was blurring. He was gonna be with Shiro soon.

He heard the growl of a lion and glanced out the corner of his eye. The lion was walking closer, just looking at him. " _What?_ " Keith weakly let out. He felt the lion's breath on his face and neck as it examined him. Probably planning to eat him once he was dead. It didn't need to wait long. He closed his eyes, accepting defeat. Then he started lifting off the ground. He was being raised on something soft and large. He stayed like that for a while before he was moving. The long grass brushed against his hands and face. He felt too weak to open his eyes.

He just stayed against the new warm surface. It made him feel calm in an odd way since he was dying of heat now.

He moved through the field, hearing the pants of the lion nearby. He risked opening his eyes. He was on the lion, being carried through the field. It wasn't running, just walking. His eyes fluttered and closed again. He thought of the heat coming from the lion, the grass brushing against them, the steady pants of the lion he was on. And the face of Shiro coming to the forefront of his mind.

He wasn't sure if he was gonna make it, but he wishes he wouldn't. He wished he could see Shiro again. He felt himself go even more limp until he couldn't move anymore. Everything around him went to complete silence.

 **Thank you for reading chapter three! I know it is very angsty, but at least they are all getting closer to their team thus getting closer to their lions. The reason why I let Keith say "I love you" is because this universe, the Black Paladins might not happen. But anyway, special thanks to** ** _riverofdaydreams_** **and** ** _SamS14_** **for your reviews. Merry Christmas, Paladudes.**


	4. Falling into Space

**Sup Paladudes. I was really excited to write the next chapter, so here it is. Instead of Pidge's perspective, this is gonna be Lance's perspective! Yay! More of the blue paladin. This is both sad and calming, so I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Chapter Four:Falling into Space**

 **Summary: When the paladins reach a signature equal to the red paladin armor, they are stunned as to what they find. Keith finds a new side to the red lion.**

It has been a couple of Vargas since the group hug and the others return. The Olkari took the cruiser's shattered piece and started various experiments. Something about energy and stuff. They took Lance's gauntlet about fifteen dobashes ago, cause it will help on some of the experiments. Meanwhile, Shiro was desperate enough to connect with the Black Lion and find information on the red lion. Lance wasn't sure how that worked, but he was the leader and his plans were beyond genius at times.

Lance watched as Pidge tapped around on the computer, Hunk on the other monitor. Coran was gonna come to help them soon, but he was busy buffing out some scratches on Red. The lion had taken most of the blow when the cruiser exploded.

Allura was helping Ryner on Olkarion. Lance wasn't sure exactly what she was doing, but he knew it was helping a lot. Everyone was hurrying around the castle, doing the best they can. Except for him. He felt useless in this situation. He only did little things Pidge and Hunk asked him to do every few dobashes. Other than that, he sat there awaiting orders. He wished he can pull up a monitor and start coding, but he had no knowledge on the subject. He couldn't help Allura because he didn't even know what she was doing in between an army of tech wizards.

Coran didn't need help the last time he heard, and he couldn't help Shiro bond with the black lion. He tried to connect with blue but she seemed to be exhausted now.

All he could do now was wait. "Anything you need, Pidge?" Lance asked, after a while of silence.

"Umm... not at the moment," She replied after typing a couple of things.

Hunk looked up and asked, "Do you mind getting me some water? I can't concentrate." Lance shrugged and got up from his chair. He left the room and made his way to the kitchen. He grabbed a water pouch from the fridge. He heard the door slide open and Coran walked in.

"Ah! Hello, number three," Coran said, a grin plastered on his face. The man was surprisingly calm through all of this. "Getting yourself some water?"

"It's - uh - actually for Hunk," Lance said, lifting the pouch slightly. "Any luck with the Red Lion?"

Coran's smile widened slightly, "Yes, yes. The lion is much better! Looks almost just like it did after it was created." He twirled his mustache in between his fingers. "Oh, those were the days. Back when Altea was still intact." Lance cocked up an eyebrow at him. Coran sometimes would just kind of... wander off to the memories of Altea. It was kind of sad. He partly knew how he felt. He missed Earth. And his family. But Coran and Allura have lost their home permanently. It's horrifying, to say the least. "I tried to get any signal on Keith's whereabouts from the red lion. Seeing their connection is so strong. But…" He sighed. "No such luck."

"Huh," Lance wasn't surprised. "No surprise. So far, no one can get anything. It's almost like he doesn't even exist anymore."

Coran took a while to catch on to what Lance meant. He crossed his arms and leaned forward slightly, looking suspicious. "Are you suspecting that he died?"

Lance shrugged, breaking eye contact with him. "We can't get any signal on him. We didn't find him in the wreckage. Maybe he isn't even captured. Maybe he was in that blast and... didn't make it out."

Coran sighed, standing up straight. "It... _is_ a possibility. But we can't say that until we are sure." Lance looked back up as Coran laid his hand on his shoulder. "We'll find him. We just don't have to give up hope."

Lance sighed but nodded. "Just like Pidge said." He still remembered that conversation. He had no idea Keith knew Pidge so well. That they related so much. But it hurt to see her cry like that. He still felt bad for yelling at her. The water was growing cold in his hand, almost numb. "Bye Coran. I need to get back to the others."

He nodded, patting him on the back and walking toward the water. Lance left the kitchen and walked down the halls. As he came to the doors of the navigation room, he heard a low grumble in the back of his head. "Blue?" The grumble became louder, roaring desperately. He dropped the water on the ground and ran down the hallway. He ran to the source of the noise.

After passing through a couple of corridors, pushing past a confused Shiro, he arrived at the blue hangar. Blue was looking down at him, the sonic scanner was activated. As soon as he stopped in front of the lion, she opened her jaw and laid down her head.

Lance stared in confusion for a while before he shook his head and ran into the lion. He came to the cockpit and sat down in the chair. "What's the matter, Blue?"

The lion didn't answer, she stood up and stood there. She wasn't moving anymore. She just stood there. He touched the pedals, and she shot off the ground. The hangar doors opened up and they arrived into the Olkarion's sky. She launched straight toward space, not stopping. "Whoa! What are you doing? Where are you going!?"

They crashed through the atmosphere, and the lion jerked to a stop. It let out a loud roar and the sonic scan started up. As the scan ended, Lance waited for something to happen. Nothing did. Blue roared again, the sonic scan starting up again. Lance didn't get it. Why did Blue launch them into space to scan empty space?

After the third time, Lance pulled on the pedals but the lion didn't reverse. He tried again. And again. The lion roared again, the sonic scan acting up. "Blue! What are you doing?"

The lion refused to answer. She roared again, for the fifth time when Shiro's face popped up on the screens. "Lance, what are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything! Blue has gone insane," Lance protested. He pulled on the pedals again, but it refused to work. "She's not responding anymore!"

Blue roared again, muffling Shiro's next words. The sonic scan went even larger this time. Then... Blue went silent. After a couple of moments, a location popped up on his screens. The signal was compatible with... the paladin armor. "Shiro, I think Blue just found Keith."

Shiro was oddly quiet for a while before the screen shut off. A couple of ticks later, the black lion arrived next to him. "Lead the way!" He heard Shiro say over the comms. Lance didn't give it a second thought, he pushed the pedals forward and Blue responded. He heard the black lion following closely behind them.

They flew through space, Lance keeping a close eye on the scanner. Keith was surprisingly close. The beeping on the dashboard was going crazy now. They were almost there. Olkarion was far out of sight by now. The two of them kept flying. The beeping echoed quicker and louder through the cockpit. They flew for longer and longer until they stopped.

They were at Keith's location.

Lance's blood ran cold.

He felt the color drain from his face.

XXX

A grey wall was in front of him. It had a yellowish glow over it. He felt heat creep into his back and heard a low rumble somewhere. He blinked a couple of times and realized he wasn't getting so warm anymore. He felt cold chills running through him every few seconds. He pushed himself into a sitting position and look at his surroundings. He was in a cave. There was a fire in the middle of the ground, and yellow eyes were staring at him from the mouth of the cave.

The red lion was watching him. Keith scooted further away from the lion, pressing his back into the wall. How did the lion make a fire in the middle of the cave? How did he get the helmet and alien device in here with him?

Both objects were lying at the lion's paws. But he didn't seem to mind them much. His main focus was on Keith. "G-good kitty," Keith stammered, pushing harder into the wall. He silently begged that its intention wasn't to kill him. Another cold chill rolled down his spine as the lion started to walk toward him.

 _Don't come any closer, don't come any closer,_ Keith thought repeatedly as it came closer. He closed his eyes and directed his face away from the lion. _Don't come any closer_.

He heard the low grumble of the lion's breathing next to his ear. He wished the lion would just disappear like it did the first time he saw it. Keith glanced back at the lion. It was sitting before him, staring. "Do... Do you want something?"

The red lion huffed and looked behind him to the mouth of the cave. Keith followed the lion's line of vision. It was raining. Cool air blowing into the cave. Keith hesitantly got off the cave floor. The lion didn't seem to mind his movement. Keith walked past him cautiously until he got to the cave entrance. He looked outside. Nothing but rain. Thunder rumbled in the distance. He studied the faraway forest. The trees were finally swaying, the field was moving too.

Everything just... unfroze. He looked up at the sky and his eyes widened. It almost seemed like the atmosphere had crashed and space was sinking in. He felt stuck in looking at the stars. They were also moving. Glittering across the night sky. He felt like if he reached up, he would feel space slip between his fingers.

He felt something soft brush against his hand and looked down at the red lion. It was staring out at the fields, ear twitching. Keith looked back up. There was nothing that could possibly be bothering the lion. Maybe it was the planet?

Keith kneeled down next to the lion. It didn't take interest in his movements anymore. Keith raised his hand toward the lion's fur. It turned to look at him, it's yellow eyes were locked on his. Keith froze, his hand hanging in mid-air. It didn't harm him, so he cautiously brought his hand up to the lion's mane.

It was surprisingly soft for a wild animal. Like a soft blanket. The lion sat down before him, leaning into the touch like a cat. A small smile came across Keith's features. "You're not that bad after all, huh?"

Keith crossed his legs beneath him, sitting in front of the lion. He continued to brush his hand through the lion's fur. He looked back up at the sky. The longer he stared the more he felt himself drift into space. He felt like he was floating among the stars. Like the galaxy was wrapping him and the red lion out of existence.

He closed his eyes. But space seemed to glitter underneath his eyelids. He felt free. Like he always did in the simulators. The smile slipped from his face as he looked down at the field.

"Was that a mirage?" he asked himself. But he saw the red lion's eyes open in the corner of his eye. "Is he okay?" Keith looked back at the lion. "Do you think Shiro's still out there?"

The red lion stared off into the distance, it's eyes trailing up to the sky. Why was he asking a lion if his brother was okay? He sighed and looked up at the sky. Then he heard something of a whisper in the back of his head saying, " _Yes_."

He looked at the lion, but its mouth was shut. Just looking up at the galaxy. Keith followed his gaze and smiled. Maybe he was alive. Somewhere out there.

" _I miss you, Shiro._ "

 **So, that's that for chapter four. Tell me what you think in the reviews, and favorite or follow if you feel the need to. And in case you have forgotten, I do not own Voltron. And again, sorry for any OOC. I'm trying my best.**


	5. New Paladin and Aliens are Real

**Hello again, Paladudes. It has been a while since I updated and I decided to bring out chapter five. I have to admit, I am really proud of this one. Hope you like it too! I do not own Voltron.**

 **Chapter Five:New Paladin and Aliens are Real**

 **Summary: As the news spread out through Olkarion, the paladins have to make a hard decision. Keith makes a shocking discovery.**

The bridge was silent.

Allura's mouth was slightly ajar, trying to process the information. Coran looked sadly down at the floor. Lance and Coran have had this talk already, so they knew the possibilities. Hunk and Pidge looked close to a breakdown, their eyes sparkling with tears. Shiro's face was buried in his hands. He refused to admit he was crying, but Lance knew better. Lance didn't feel as good either.

Finally, after moments of silence, Allura cleared her throat. "Lance... a-are you sure?"

Lance played with his fingers for a while, trying to avoid the question. He didn't want to confirm. His heart was still painfully beating in his chest. He didn't want to believe it. He looked up to see Allura stare expectantly at him. He looked away again, letting out a shaky breath. "Positive."

"Bullshit!" Pidge screamed, jumping up from her seat. "He's fine! He's not…" She froze and avoided looking at any of them. "I'm gonna continue the research." She turned away from all of them and left the bridge. Shiro sighed and got out of his chair.

"I'll go talk to her," He said, walking to the doors. "Alert the Olkari. Call…" Shiro stopped mid-sentence. He sighed and closed his eyes. "Call off the search." With that, he left the room. Allura looked down at her feet while Coran walked after Shiro. Lance knew Coran was on his way to Ryner, so he got up as well. Allura followed after them.

Hunk stayed in the bridge, giving a vague wave behind his back. Lance knew when Hunk was upset, he liked to be alone for a while. The three of them walked down the hallways of the castle until Lance heard voices. He told the others that he'll be with them in a second and walked toward the sound.

He stopped in front of the navigation room. He heard the familiar clicking of monitor keys and Shiro's distant voice. Lance pushed his ear against the door, trying to make sense of what they were saying.

"- _brought him back, Pidge. He's in a cry pod inside the blue lion. I don't want this to be happening either but-"_

" _He's still out there, Shiro! If anything, it can be a clone. That is not him!_ "

Lance heard Shiro let out a heavy sigh. There was a scraping of a chair and silence. He heard Pidge go back to her work. Tapping hard on the keys. " _It is him_ ," Shiro said after a while pause. " _Lance and I... we had to make sure before we told you. It's him, Pidge. I…_ "

Nothing was said after that. Pidge didn't stop. Shiro went completely still. Lance pushed away from the door and went down the halls of the castle again. He came to the airlock and took a pod down to Olkarion. He stepped out of the pod and watched as Allura and Coran talked to Ryner.

He walked up toward them.

"Are you sure?" Ryner asked.

"Yes," Lance said, making the three of them turn their attention to him. "We found his body two Vargas ago. Shiro and I made sure it was him. The red lion seemed to recognize him. It... it shut off. When we got close, the forcefield came up." Lance tried to keep his composure. Tried to not look away. He still remembered seeing a destroyed battlecruiser, the sad purr of the blue lion and the floating corpse of the red paladin among the debris.

Ryner blinked and looked down at her hands. "I'll alert the other Olkari of this. How's the green paladin?"

"In denial, but she'll be alright," Allura replied.

Ryner nodded and said, "The Olkari is here if there is anything you need. Anyone you need."

Allura smiled. "Thank you, Ryner."

Ryner turned away from them towards the other buildings. Allura's smile fell and turned to Lance. "I know you said... that you were positive about... But are you sure it _is_ him?"

"Yes, Allura," Lance said. He refused to look at her in the eye. "Even the blue and red lion know. Keith's... Keith's dead."

Allura nodded and turned to Coran. "Coran, what do we do now? If there isn't a red paladin, we can't form Voltron. And as hard as this is, we need to get back to the fight against Zarkon."

Coran crossed his arms. "Well... I guess it's time to find a new paladin for the red lion."

Lance's head snapped up, "What?"

"The teledov is almost ready. As soon as we are finished... it will be time to fight Zarkon. Without the red lion, it will be impossible," Coran explained.

"With a new red paladin it will be even harder," Lance said. "They won't have any knowledge on Voltron. They won't have a strong enough connection. Even if the teledov is done, we will have to wait longer. Kolivan said we can't delay this."

"We'll have to delay this anyway, Lance," Allura said. "Keith is gone. We don't need to find him anymore. We'll have to make a new plan." She turned back to Coran. "Call the Blades, we need to have a talk."

Lance turned back to the castle. He knew she was right. He knew Coran was right. It was just too hard to hear this. Get his thoughts spoken aloud by someone else. The interior of the pod was tense as the three of them flew back into the castle. They all split different ways as soon as they got into the castle. Coran and Allura left for the bridge while Lance walked to his bedroom.

He walked past the kitchen but smelled the familiar scent of Hunk's cooking. He walked into the room and saw Hunk walked around the kitchen, grabbing various things and baking. Lance sat down on a nearby chair. "Hey, Hunk."

Hunk looked up and smiled, "Hey, buddy. Talk to the Olkari yet?"

"Yeah, we did," Lance said, laying down on his arms. "Coran and Allura... want to find a new pilot for the red lion."

"Oh," Hunk said, looking back at the food he was cooking. "Because of the whole... thing."

"Yeah, the whole thing," Lance replied, more of a whisper. He looked up at his friend. "Pidge refuses to believe this. I heard her and Shiro talking... she didn't sound too happy."

"I know... After all that stuff she told us, I understand. Keith was as close as family to her," Hunk sat down on one of the chairs too. "I went down to the red lion's hangar. I... I saw him. He looked strangely peaceful." He sighed, dusting off his hands. "I wasn't there long."

"I know," Lance said. "He was always slouching around. Always tense. It's strange to see him like that. Even though the mullet still looks bad."

Hunk chuckled, "Of course, your first concern would be his hair."

Lance laughed back. They sat in silence for a while before Hunk got up and got back to making food. Lance sat silently, watching Hunk work around the kitchen. It was calming to him. Seeing his friends do something they love. "I wish he was still out there. Somewhere."

"Me too," Hunk replied. "He was... a really great friend. When you got to know him. But, even you would know that."

Lance smiled. "Yeah. The guy could be a real pain but then again... so can I. Now who am I gonna make fun of?"

Hunk smiled. "I really miss him."

Lance frowned, "Yeah... me too."

Keith fell asleep while stroking the red lion. He wouldn't be surprised if it bit off his hand while he was unconscious. But he didn't expect the lion would morph into a robot head. The screen wasn't glaring anymore, but electricity was sparking at the base of its neck. Keith yelped, jumping up from his position. The stone of the cave was as hot as a car seat on a hot day. Not to mention, it felt like leather. He was so drawn into the sky the night before he didn't notice that detail.

His skin felt hot again. He felt light headed. There was a chance the heat of the day was taking over again.

He heard a growl echo in the cave and looked up to see the red lion eyeing him from deeper in the cave. Keith looked at the lion for a moment before asking, "Did... Did you bring this to me?" The lion stood up straighter, as if proud. Keith nudged it aside with his foot. He lowered back to the cave floor.

He heard the lion approaching him. He looked out the corner of his eye and saw it sit down next to him. The fire from last night was out, but he still felt the hot flames' heat burning into his side. It wasn't helping with the heat outside. Keith looked up at the lion. It was just looking back at him. "What is that thing?"

Keith knew it was a robot. That much was obvious. But it didn't look like any robot on Earth. And it was pretty obvious, he wasn't on Earth. Keith didn't know if the lion could speak, but it's created a fire the night before, so it just might. The lion got up from the ground and walked to the mouth of the cave. It looked back at him. Keith sighed and got up. He went next to the lion and it started walking down the stones. The rain from the night before was already dried up so he didn't need to worry about slipping.

He climbed down after the lion. They got into the field and walked for a long time. Keith felt the heat taking over. He tried to take deep breaths and push through the heat.

"Keith!"

Keith turned around at the sound of his name. Adam was there. He was running toward him. "Keith!"

Keith couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Adam?"

Adam stopped in front of him, "Keith, I have been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been?"

"A-Adam, how did you get here?" Keith asked, completely bewildered. He forgot that this wasn't Earth. That a red lion was leading him through the field.

Adam laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was looking for you. I was walking around this field when I saw you. I - I didn't think I was ever gonna see you again." A frown came across Adam's features as he put a hand on Keith's cheek. "I'm so sorry, about... about Shiro. We saw the ship he crashed in. I... I'm so sorry, Keith."

Keith heard the growl of something behind him but he ignored it. He broke eye contact from Adam. "It's nothing. There was nothing you could do."

Adam's hand fell away from Keith's face and he looked down at the grass. "I - I know. I just wish that I could." He looked back up at Keith and held out his hand. "But now that I found you, you can come back. I will work something out with Iverson. Please, Keith, come home." He held out his hand.

Keith looked down at his hand. "I - Adam I can't. Don't waste your time trying to care for me. The Garrison is behind me now. I don't need to go back."

Adam's hand faltered. "I know. But at least come back home. Get out of this place. Come with me."

Keith looked back down at Adam's hand. He raised his hand, reaching for Adam's hand. Keith saw something in the corner of his eye. A galaxy of stars. Soft red fur. He looked next to him, into the eyes of the red lion. He remembered sitting up in the cave the night before. Shiro... Shiro was still alive. "Adam, I can't go with you. I need to go with Red." He didn't know if that was the lion's name, but it seemed to recognize the name.

Adam looked at the lion. "Keith, what are you talking about? There's nothing there. Keith, you might be getting heatstroke. Come with me. Everything is gonna be okay."

Keith moved away from Adam. "How... How can I trust you? You're not real." He heard something fly somewhere, like a ship, but his eyes were trained on Adam.

"Keith, don't be ridiculous," Adam said. "Come with me. Please, you can trust me."

Keith heard the red lion roar next to him. He looked at Red and saw him staring up at the sky. Keith followed his eye line and saw a ship, much like the one he crashed, flying overhead. A couple of them actually. A larger ship was lowering itself on the ground. "Red, what is that?"

Red let out another roar and ran off. If Red was seeing this too, this could've been dangerous. Keith turned but felt someone tug him back, "Keith, where are you going?"

Keith shrugged him off and ran after Red. He heard Adam calling after him but he didn't look back. He struggled to catch up with Red but he was managing. He stumbled with the heat but he was able to push on. Finally, they got into the forest. Red didn't stop running so neither did Keith.

Something hit in front of him. Like a laser. He looked up and saw one of those small ships. He looked back to see Red waiting for him. He ran toward him, the lasers chasing him all the way. As soon as he got to Red's side, the lion tripped him. He fell onto his back and held tight as Red started running again. He positioned himself better on the lion and was surprised at how tall this lion really was.

The ships were chasing them now, and the lion didn't stop. The speed of the lion was impeccable. He managed to stay on the lion, but the wind that flew into his face was cold, chasing away Adam's voice.

There was something oddly satisfying about flying an alien lion like a war horse.

Lasers were hitting all around them. The lion was able to dodge all of them. Keith heard a crash somewhere and risked looking back. The large purple ship seemed to have lowered itself to the ground. A couple of the smaller ships were landing around them. It forced them to stop.

The pilots were coming out of the ships now. They all had the same robot head from the cavern. But other pilots were wearing armor. They had purple skin and sharp ears. Their eyes were yellow. Were those... aliens?

They were all armed, pointing their guns at them. All the technology made a lot more sense. But how did he end up in an alien ship?

The aliens were closing in from all sides. "Would you look at that. The Red Paladin," one of the aliens said, a smirk on his face.

"And what is that thing he's on?" one of the others asked. "Did they change their ships into smaller animals?"

The first alien glared at the second one. "That is the least of our concerns. Why don't we take this one to Emperor Zarkon?"

Who was Emperor Zarkon? Whoever it was, Red didn't seem to like him much. It opened its jaw, wider than supposed to be possible, and a column of flames shot from the back of its throat. It hit the first alien and spread out to the others. The fire curled up trees and ships.

How this lion was able to do that? Keith wasn't gonna question it. From this day, Earth believed aliens didn't exist. And now he was on an alien planet. How did he get onto this planet? He didn't know that either.

The lion lurched forward again. Keith nearly topped off of Red but he held on tight enough. The cold air hit his face again. Aliens were still chasing them. He heard the clang of metal, saw the lasers pass by his face.

He felt like he was standing under cold water. Something was tugging at the back of his mind. He felt deja vu swell in his chest.

 _"Roger that. We'll try and distract them from here."_

 _He hurried to Lance and helped him up. "You okay?"_

 _"Fine," Lance shoved him off. "We need to get out of here! Pidge!"_

 _"AHHHHH!"_

 _Keith spun around and felt his heart stop. "PIDGE!"_

 _"Oxygen Levels at 10%."_

 _"Shiro? Shiro!" Keith yelled into the comms. "Hunk? Lance? Anyone, come in!"_

 _"AHHHHH!"_

Something hard fell into his hand. On instinct, he held on tight. He heard something grow in the speed of light. He forced his eyes open. There was still chaos going on around them. His vision was different. Like he was looking through a yellow screen. Everything was clearer.

He got more aware of his surroundings. He felt like fire was coiling through his vines and burning his lungs. It could've been the planet's heat, but that was unnatural. An alien came in close range, and he swung his right hand in response.

He heard the slice of something sharp and saw a red and white sword in his hand.

Keith was pretty sure he could deal with this. Red stopped every now and again, shooting columns of fire at ships and far away aliens. Keith attacked from close range, his new yellow vision growing stronger and brighter.

Now it truly felt like he was riding a lion warhorse. He felt closer to Red. He felt more alive. The wind pulling through his hair, the heat in his veins, his new golden vision, the long laser sword in his fist.

He felt more awake on the battlefield. He felt free.

After minutes of fighting the aliens, they got to the other side of the forest. Running past large rocks and sand. Glass shards seemed to lay around on the floor.

Now that they were out of the aliens' sight, Keith noticed that he felt light-headed. He felt himself dozing off. Minutes after the lion's pace has slowed, Keith felt the armor weigh more and more. The sword disintegrated.

He fell forward and the world went dark.

 **What happened to Keith? Why did his vision become all yellow? Find out in the next chapter! That's all for now paladudes.**


	6. Druid's Revenge

**I'm back with another chapter. This is kind of part of chapter five. Kind of. I do not own Voltron.**

 **Chapter Six:Druid's Revenge**

 **Summary: Maccidus didn't forget the battle between him and the red paladin. What will Voltron be able to accomplish with one lion down?**

Maccidus never forgot about the red paladin. They have fought before in the Quintessence Lab. He had tried to steal one of their samples, thus destroying a lot more.

High Priestess Haggar hasn't been too pleased about the loss of quintessence. Maccidus was only summoned to the main ship on rare occasions now. When he reached a distress signal from one of his ships, he wasn't too pleased to hear about the Red Paladin's presence.

He rushed over as quick as he could. He arrived at the cruiser to see it under heavy fire. The black and yellow lions were there. The yellow lion was protecting something. From the looks of it, it was the red lion. He raised his hand ready to fire when he saw another fighter emerge from the cruiser, he got a signature close to the red paladin coming from the fighter.

His focus was turned off from the red lion and immediately turned his hand facing the fighter. Direct aim... and he fired.

The ship shot forward with the force of the spell, shooting straight for the planet nearby. Maccidus cast another spell on the planet. It dissolved within seconds. The paladin wouldn't survive one day on that planet. Now, even Voltron couldn't find him.

The Blue Lion emerged from the castle and joined in on the battle. That ship was worthless anyway. He shot another jolt of magic toward the cruiser and within seconds, it blasted apart. "Get us out of here," Maccidus told one of the centuries and they flew off in light speed.

XXX

One of Voltron's coalitions were helping them find the red paladin. From what he heard, they were picking up on his location.

He was waiting for Druv on the bridge, cutting the signature short. Druv came onto the bridge. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

Without a word, Maccidus shot a curse at him, making the galra fall to his knees. He watched as Druv collapsed before him. He raised his hand again, aimed at the dead galra soldier. He slowly started to morph and shrink.

After a while, the corpse of the red paladin laid before him. Broken armor, cut pale skin. He turned back to the window and sent out a signal to the Blue Lion. It took him Vargas to get it right, but finally, it had worked.

Maccidus pulled one of the levers and turned away. He teleported before the ship blew to pieces, killing everyone on board. The Emperor and Priestess will never find out about any of this. Just that the red paladin has perished in the last attack.

XXX

A couple of hours later, Maccidus was pleased to hear that his work wasn't at any loss. The Paladins found the corpse of the red lion's pilot and believed it was him. Now he didn't need to worry about the human boy anymore.

 **I hope you understand a bit more. I don't like Maccidus so I am gonna blame everything on him.**


	7. Lion Carvings

**Okay, next update to Learning to Fly. It is almost the end of the fanfiction so enjoy it while you can. Since today is Keith and Red day of Keith Gen-Uary, I decided to post this. I do not own Voltron.**

Chapter Seven:Lion Carvings

 **Summary: Hunting for a new red paladin isn't too easy. Keith finds carvings similar to the blue lion's.**

Shiro watched as Allura conversed with the Olkari. A couple of them were already in the pod. Allura was hunting out new paladins for the red lion. Coran waved off the offer reminding them that the red lion ran away last time. Red refused to answer to Allura. Now, it was down to looking among the coalition. Shiro chose to stay out of it with Pidge. He knew, as a leader, he needed to be there to welcome a new paladin. But as a friend, he needed to be there for those he held dear.

Pidge has dozed off long ago, leaning against Shiro's left arm. Lance and Hunk were waiting in front of the red lion for the next occupants.

Shiro let out a sigh and picked Pidge up off the seat. He walked to her bedroom and dodged around the mess on the floor. As soon as she was under the covers and her room was a little more manageable, Shiro left for the red hangar. When he entered, five Olkari already left the hangar with a slouch.

He leaned against the wall and dealt for a ' _sorry, the lion's temperamental_ ' look. He looked back the lion. Its eyes were dark and stared blankly at the wall. The olkari had to use Kei - the red speeder to get into the lion.

It still refused any of the aliens. Some left with a shrug, some let out a frustrated scream and others left with a sad slouch in their shoulders. After the last of the olkari left, Shiro walked toward the others. "Do we call the Blade of Marmora? Maybe one of them can pilot the lion."

Allura shrugged and sat down on a curve of the wall. "So far, all the Blades refused to even _try_. One or two came over, but Red refused them too. This might be more difficult than I thought."

Coran put a hand on her shoulder, "It will be fine, Princess. We will find a new paladin."

Lance and Hunk sat down next to her in exhaustion. "Some of them are so desperate," Lance said, crossing his arms. "He had to let go of the pedals _some_ day."

Hunk nodded, "But they are a race of tech wizards and Voltron is a once in a lifetime offer, so... I understand some of their frustration."

Shiro looked up at Red, "Well, we're just gonna have to keep looking. Until we find a new paladin."

Lance sat up straighter, "It's strange. Usually, you can feel the lions' energy. But Red is just... gone. Like he's not there anymore." He looked up at Shiro. "You don't think... that maybe, Red died when Keith did?"

Allura shook her head, "That's impossible. The red lion didn't die when my father did. It's just being _quiznacking_ stubborn."

"Lance might be right," Hunk chimed in. "I mean... the energy is just gone. Even though we are not its paladins, we can still feel the energy of the red lion. But now we can't."

Allura shook her head again, "I - I don't know! I don't understand why the red lion is behaving like this. I don't know where the energy is anymore! Its so silent that it's frustrating."

Shiro put a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, Allura. We are gonna find a new paladin soon. Red is just hiding. You're right. Its just stubborn. But it will come through. We will continue fighting this war and save the universe. In honor of the alteans. And Keith."

Allura sighed, "Okay." She got up and faced them with rebuilt confidence. "Let's continue our mission."

XXX

Hard ground and rocks rubbed at Keith's back. He felt numb and heard nothing but his breathing, the grunt of the red lion and the sound of gravel. Keith looked around in a daze and noticed the hot breath on the back of his neck.

He tried to glance back and noticed sharp canines digging into the neck of his armor. Large mounds of sand and rock were around them. The temperature was normal. Not too hot, not to cold. Keith noticed that he was moving. Slowly, but he was moving. He looked down at his hand, limply bumping against the gravel. As soon as Red noticed Keith was awake, he dropped him and sat down. Keith's head bumped on the ground and he hissed in pain.

He weakly reached up and massaged the back of his head. " _Ow_ ," he grumbled as he forced himself to his feet. He looked at the alien device laying on his stomach and picked it up. He remembered quick shots of the battle. Visions traveling in and out of his mind.

"What happened back there?" Keith asked, looking back up at Red. The lion only stared at him for a second before getting up and slapping Keith in the face with his tail. Keith spit out the horrible taste of ash from the lion's tail. "What's wrong with you!? _Why would you do that?_ " Red didn't answer, continuing his path. "Hey! Where are you going?" Keith pushed off the ground and fell right back down. He hissed in pain his his face made contact with the ground.

He coughed at the dust that flew into his face. He sat up and wiped the sand off his cheeks.

Red stared at him for a moment before shaking his mane and leaving again. "Why are you angry at me?" Keith questioned, looking after the lion. "Wait!" The red lion didn't look back. Keith climbed to his feet again, grabbing a nearby boulder for support. He limped along the edge of the large rock, trying to catch up to Red.

His legs felt weak, making him stumble. He tried limping quicker, catching up to him. He grabbed a nearby tree when the rock ended and after a serious of stumbling and tripping, came to Red's side. "Can ... you slow ... down!?" Red didn't seem to like Keith's tone of voice, cause his tail swiped Keith off his feet. Keith fell to the ground with a loud thud and Keith glared at the lion. "What's your problem!?"

Red didn't stop to wait for him.

Keith pushed off the ground again and limped back to Red. He didn't know what the lion's problem was. They were sitting in the cave, watching the stars, Red gifted Keith with a robot head and now he was angry.

"Is it because I was talking to Adam!?" Keith asked, trying to catch up with Red's quick pace. "I'm sorry I didn't know it was a mirage while having heat stroke! It was so obvious now that I think back to it." The lion growled in irritation. "Don't get irritated! I'm trying to apologize for my drowsy actions that I can hardly remember."

The lion tripped him with his large tail again. Keith fell hard on his ass and glared as the lion walked away. He got up again and tried limping after him. "You want me to follow you don't you? You grabbed me by the scruff through the dirt a minute ago! Slow the fu-" Keith fell through the ground. As he was yelling at Red, he didn't notice the beast sidestep a hole in the ground.

Keith fell down until he hit a rock surface. He felt all the wind leave him and gasped for breath. He slowly reminded himself _in, out, in out_ until he started breathing normally.

He glanced up at the light, shining down on him like a spotlight. "H-hey!" Keith panted. "A little help! Hello!" He coughed from the burn in his lungs and fell back on his back as a rushed memory hit him. The burn in his veins as he slashed at the aliens. His eyes glowing in golden vision. He coughed as his lungs set on fire. He tried blinking the memory away. "R-red! _*cough*_ Red, help!"

The lion didn't appear.

Keith got off the ground, his stomach hurting from the force of his coughs. His legs and body still felt weak from the battle. He nearly fell back to the ground, but he held himself in place.

He looked around the cave and noticed the various cobwebs and dust coating the interior.

He wondered what mutant spiders made those webs. If they came out, Keith wouldn't have much a chance to get away. The alien door handle - which turned out to be a sword - was dropped somewhere back on the surface. His blood stained helmet was probably somewhere back in the forest.

He limped around the cave, looking for an exit or a boost up out of here.

His legs gave out from under him and he fell against the wall. He held his shoulder firmly in place, keeping himself onto his feet. He took a couple of deep breaths and looked up the long, rock wall.

His eyes widened at the sight.

The lion markings. From back on Earth. They were there. But instead of a blue paint, it was red. He held one hand against the wall for support, while the other dusted the paintings. Stories were engraved into the rocks. A red lion fighting a curved wave, a red lion's drawn face staring back at him. None of them looked like red.

They didn't look that much like the blue lion markings either. A different shape and form, but the same story. He noticed the familiar blue carving of the blue lion, standing next to the red lion. They were blasting fire and water at each other.

Keith walked down the cave wall, his hand tracing a long line in the dust. He recognized so many of these stories from the blue lion, but some of them were new.

He traced them, trying to make sense out of them. But he couldn't. He looked back the red lion from a front profile. Blocks and circles acting out as mechanical pieces. Keith traced the lines, wondering who put them here. He put his hand over the face of the lion and yelped as he saw the sun burning with retinas. He fell to the ground, blinking rapidly.

As soon as he touched the red lion carving, Keith saw a familiar flash of a field. An orange flow making his skin warm. But when he let go, it was gone.

He sat there on the floor, panting heavily. He stared the marking for a while before he got up again. He walked forward and looked down at his hand. Hesitantly, he raised his hand and laid it against the carving. He gasped as another flash came to the forefront of his mind but kept himself grounded.

Voices and images starting getting clearer but still fuzzed around the edges and the voices sounded ghost-like.

" _Defenders of the Universe, huh? That's got a nice ring to it," Shiro said, turning around to stare up at the lions._

" _Keith, you will fly the red lion." Keith smirked at the hovering Red Lion figure that hung before him._

" _What? This guy?" Lance said, pouting at Keith, thus destroying Keith's mood._

" _Matt? I - I know that name," Spurk said, looking up thoughtfully. "We were in the same cell on that cruiser."_

" _By then, we could use Keith to open the doors."_

 _"That isn't insulting at all."_

 _"Shiro, we're in," Keith said into his com. "Pidge is gathering the information right now."_

 _"_ Great, _" Shiro's voice rang in his ear. "_ Make sure you and Lance keep her covered _."_

 _"On it."_

 _"Pidge!" Keith called. "We got you covered! Check the schematics now!"_

 _"AHHHHH!"_

 _Keith spun around and felt his heart stop. "PIDGE!"_

 _He opened his eyes slightly to watch a blurry landscape grow closer…_

 _And closer..._

 _Closer..._

 _ **KABOOM**_ _!_

Keith's hand jerked away as smoke billowed in front of his vision. He felt even weaker than before. His other hand held the wall in effort to keep himself up. He panted as he stared at the floor. Sweat running down his face.

He heard a low growl behind him and looked back at the red lion. Its fur glittering with stars, eyes glowing with a yellow light. He was no longer in his mechanical form.

"Red?" Keith asked hoarsely, before the weight of the memories got to tough and he fell onto the floor.

 **Well, that's that. As always, sorry for any OOC behaviour and if anyone can tell me how to make that page break line in the reviews, that would be great.**


	8. Connection

**This is a short chapter, but I hope you like it.**

Chapter Eight:Connection

 **Summary: Red is behaving odd. Keith needs to find a way off of the planet.**

The bridge was silent. They have left Olkarion and went to the other coalitions. The red lion responded to no one. Battles were becoming more intense. Somehow the galra knew they were a lion short, and fleets were coming in more and more. They were unable to form Voltron and barely caught any rest. It was becoming chaotic. Not to mention, they didn't know how the galra were tracking them. Shiro looked around on his map for any dangers and found none.

He sat back in his chair with a sigh of relief. They could finally rest. "All clear," Shiro reported to the others. Collective sighs and groans of relief filled the bridge.

"Man, finally," Hunk groaned. "Now we can find out how -"

Hunk was cut off with the blaring of alarms. Shiro checked the map and confusion took over him. "No galra fleets."

Allura pulled up the cameras and skipped through the screens. She paused at one of them and shock filled her crystal blue eyes. "It's... the red lion. The red lion is trying to escape the hangar."

"What?" Lance questioned.

Allura pulled up the screens for all of them to see. Indeed, the red lion's eyes were burning with yellow light and was banging his snout against the wall of the castle. A dent slowly creased into the wall. "What the quiznack?" Coran said, flabbergasted.

"It's going to break the ship!" Allura cried.

Shiro got up from his seat and turned to Hunk. "Hunk, you need to get in there with Yellow and stop Red from further damaging the ship! Make sure the lion doesn't leave the hangar. The rest of us will wait for you at the red lion." The bridge scattered, Coran and Allura stayed behind. As soon as Pidge, Shiro and Lance made it to the hangar doors, they toppled over as another vibration shot through the castle. They pushed themselves up again and cautiously got into the hangar.

"Hunk, you ready?" Shiro asked through the comms.

Hunk took a while to respond, "Yes."

"Okay, we'll be your eyes from the ground, okay?"

"Okay," Hunk answered. The hangar doors opened and Red craned his neck to look at the ceiling. It growled and shot toward the opening. Hunk quickly blocked the lion's path with Yellow. Red started lowering to the ground, which was odd for him to give up so quickly.

Red dropped on the ground and Shiro realized too late what was happening. The lion jumped off the ground again, thrusting all its weight into the yellow lion. Yellow shuddered and roared weakly, but forced more of its weight, trying to push Red down into the hangar.

"What's going on?" Pidge called out.

"Does that thing have an 'off' button?" Lance asked.

"Hunk! Are you okay?" Shiro asked.

Hunk took a while to reply. When he did, it sounded strained, "Y-Yeah! I'm fine. Red lion is stronger than we thought though." Hunk let out a yelp as Red thrust himself against the Yellow Lion again. "Why is it behaving like this?"

Shiro thought for a bit but couldn't get any answers, "I don't know, but it looks distressed."

XXX

The sensation was familiar. This time it was cold. It felt like Keith was laying down on an ice surface. Being dragged over the sharp rocks on the stone. It felt like he was in a straitjacket. His waist and chest tight with something soft and sticky.

He blinked open his eyes and saw the ceiling above him. Stone. He was in a cavern. Everything sunk back in. The markings, the lions, the memories. Pidge. The paladins! He needed to get back to them! He groggily shifted in his straitjacket, a pathetic moan escaped his mouth.

" _R_ e _d_ …" Keith grumbled, trying to get out of his hold. " _E_ r... _Re_ d.." Breathing was difficult. His lungs was compressed by a heavy weight. His paladin armor. He tried to reach up and take off the chest plate, but his hands wouldn't budge. The more he moved, the more numb he became. "R _e_ d."

Something hissed nearby and it made Keith flinch. "... _R_ e _d_ …" he mumbled as he shifted to see the lion. What Keith saw was no red lion.

XXX

Whatever Allura did, it helped. Yellow was back in his hangar to recharge. Hunk and the rest were in the red hangar looking at the lion. Its eyes were dark again, unresponsive as it has been ever since they lost Keith.

Hunk stared up at the lion warily. He didn't want to leave the lion alone. It might start going berserk again. "I don't know why it's behaving this way," Allura said, looking at the Red Lion. "This... this has never happened before."

Pidge studied the lion for a while before responding, "Maybe it's in the five stages of grieving. I mean, we don't know _everything_ of these lions and they are sentient. Perhaps he's just grieving the…" she froze. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes. "The _loss_ of his paladin." She opened her eyes again. "Obviously, that whole dark eyes stage was Denial and this might be Anger."

Shiro sighed, "You... you could be right. But this can make Red more dangerous than ever before. Its speed, its strength…" he sighed. "We would be in serious danger if he uses his lasers. Or fire power."

As if on cue, the red lion roared and knocked into the dented wall. The six of them toppled to the ground as Red's head collided with the wall. Shiro got up and turned to Hunk. "Hunk! Get the yellow lion. Now!"

XXX

Keith struggled against his bonds, making his captors irritated. It was probably a bad idea to anger them.

They were large, mutant spiders. Red was nowhere in sight so all he could do was try and escape. He focused on his Bayard's energy, trying to summon it. Nothing seemed to work. He saw a dark hole coming closer into view and he started struggling more.

 _Gotta get out, gotta get out_ , repeated in his head like a mantra. It wasn't encouraging. Keith tried to dig his nails in the webbing around his waist and chest, but his hands could barely move. There was no doubt these spiders would kill him if he struggled more. He tried to dig his heels into the ground. To stop their moving. But they were much stronger and just pulled him along effortlessly.

Darkness started looming over him. He closed his eyes and tried to push against the webs. He didn't have time for this! He needed to get out! He needed to get back to the paladins! _Red! Red, help!_

XXX

Red opened his jaw and shot a laser at the wall. Surprisingly, it didn't burn a hole through the metal. Yellow pushed against Red's back, pushing the lion down. Red, however, started to struggle against the yellow lion.

"I can't hold for much longer," Hunk called over the comms. "Red won't - AHH!" Red pushed the yellow lion off and the others scattered out of the way.

"No!" Allura cried as Red darted for the hangar doors. Coran hit a button on the wall and the doors closed. Red clashed against the doors. It opened it's jaw and shot a column of lasers at the metal. Yellow got back off the ground and flew up toward Red. He grabbed Red by the tail and pulled the lion down to the floor.

Lance ran out of the hangar once the Red lion shot fire toward the yellow lion. Hunk dodged the blow and let go of Red's mechanical tail. "It won't yield!" Hunk called over the comms.

"Coran! Open the hangar!" Lance called over the comms. Coran hesitantly opened the hangar and allowed the blue lion access. "Get out of here! You can get hit!"

The five of four of them ran out of the hangar and toward the bridge. They stumbled with every BANG on the ship but got into the bridge just in time. Coran opened the hangar's camera again and saw the yellow and blue lion trying to block Red in one space. There wasn't much space to maneuver but they seemed to be okay.

Shiro studied the red lion. It roared, shots flames and lasers in all directions. He knew the walls of the castle wouldn't hold for long. Red let out another roar of distress and broke past the blue lion. It pushed against the hangar doors urgently. Yellow and Blue tried to pull the lion down again but it shot at them with its tail. Red turned his attention to the doors again and opened his jaw.

"No!" Shiro yelled as fire melted the doors away. The lion shot out of the hangar and they saw it speed off.

XXX

Keith fell onto the ground with an _oomph_. He coughed at the dust that swirled around his head. He blinked a couple of times to adjust to the light and noticed something coming toward him. He tried to push away, but the spider held him back. It stared at him with its beady eyes, spotted _all_ over it's yellow body. It made a strange hissing noise as it studied Keith. He felt a vibration under his arms that made him shudder. The air was getting uncomfortably hot.

The spider made a clicking sound before bending over him fangs bared. Keith felt the vibration again, stronger this time. Keith shut his eyes and rolled his head away from the spider's face. _Stay away_ , Keith thought desperately.

The cave shook again and the spider fell back. A light started to fill the cave. A red light. He opened his eyes and looked around. "R-Red?"

The red spirit towered over him, eyeing him much as the spider has. It looked behind it before it grabbed at Keith's bindings. Keith flinched at the searing hot fangs that burned away at the webbing. Red growled as he got the last of Keith's bindings.

"What took you so long?" Keith glowered at the lion but looked up when he saw movement in the corner of his eye. Spiders crawled up the walls. The first one rolled back onto its legs. Red spun around and growled at the spiders around Keith. The spiders circled warily. Red stared all around at anything coming close. Keith pushed closer to Red, trying to stay away from the creatures. He pushed himself to his feet and used Red as support.

It was two against a million. Yeah, they can do this.

 **Cliffhangar ;). Review for the next chapter.**


	9. An Apology

**I would like you all to know! This fanfiction is no longer gonna be written! I hate it with every fiber of my being, the writing and characters make me cringe and my grammar is honestly - sending me to my grave with embarrassment! I will** ** _probably_** **rewrite the fanfiction on Archive of Our Own but I really don't wanna read through this again!**

 **For the time being! I** ** _applaud_** **everyone who stuck around for this and how far it got! I** ** _severely_** **apologize for those who cringed at every word written in this monstrosity. I assure you I am so much better at my writing than this! You can go check out my new fanfic posting site:** **RedLion003** **or my Tumblr (** **yelmor-boots** **) for more upcoming fics that aren't as bad as this one.**

 **Thank you and sorry:**

 **Aquatic Decendants**


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